Volume 55, Number 25   March 10 , 2008         

Best-seller goes gourmet
Alum and Professor Emeritus Frances Mayes was featured in the March 3 Toronto Star about her new passion: producing olive oil. On her new online enterprise, the author of "Under the Tuscan Sun" noted, "It's a big money loser, but we still like to do it. Having picnics in the olive grove every day and taking the olives to the mill every two or three days -- it's a great adventure for people to go through that whole process and actually come home with that green, new wonderful oil."

Self-fulfilling call centers
In a Feb. 29 MSNBC article, Assistant Professor of Decision Sciences Vijay Mehrotra discusses morale issues in Sprint's call centers. "If your lack of trust in employees is so low that you are monitoring their bathroom breaks, you are guaranteed to have customer service problems and huge employee morale issues," he said. 

Independent centering
In a Feb. 29 San Francisco Chronicle article, Professor Emeritus of Political Science Rich DeLeon says independent vice presidential candidate Matt Gonzalez, "could serve an important function in framing the issues. But if they start campaigning in swing states like Missouri and Ohio and Florida ... there could be a real uproar about that." Noting that the independent candidacy could have an effect on the Democratic nominee, DeLeon said, "There's a certain function the Nader-Gonzalez ticket can play in reminding people what a real left-wing radical in the American system looks like."
 
Scare Tactics
Dina Ibrahim, assistant professor of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts, was quoted in a Feb. 28 article in the San Francisco Chronicle that explored "Islamophobia" in the presidential campaign. "It's Islamophobia," Ibrahim said of using Sen. Barack Obama's middle name as a scare tactic. "Stick a turban on somebody and call them a bad guy."

Homesick success stories
A Jan. 2 article in the Economic Times of India discussed academic competition among Indian immigrants in higher education. Noting that many first-generation Indian immigrants wish to return home, Assistant Professor of Social Work Rashmi Gupta said, "But it is hard to come back leaving our children there. A generation of Indians who are nearing retirement are contemplating moving back."

For more media coverage of faculty, staff, students, alumni and programs, see SF State in the News.

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Last modified March 10, 2008 by University Communications.